Employee Handbooks and Policies A Business Counselor Institute Program

Alan S. Gutterman

Founding Director, Sustainable Entrepreneurship Project

Author, Business Transactions Solutions

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Employee Handbooks and Policies Agenda

• As a result of this program, you will understand:

– Legal considerations

– Formatting and contents

– Practical considerations in drafting employee handbooks

– Equal opportunity policies

– Pay and benefits policies

– Standards of conduct

– Time off and leave policies

– “On the job” policies

– Safety and health policies

– Internet use and social networking policies

•

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Legal Considerations

• Equal employment opportunity laws

• Laws and cases pertaining to sexual harassment

• Americans with Disabilities Act

• Occupational Safety and Health Act

• Workplace violence

• “At Will” employment

• Workplace privacy and confidentiality

• Recordkeeping requirements

• Wage and hour laws

• National Labor Relations Act

• State laws and regulations

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Formatting

• Formal personnel handbook

• New employee memorandum or guidelines

• Policy statements and procedures

• Short-form document posted on company’s internal

intranet

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Contents (Part I)

• Disclaimer of guarantee of employment and statement of “at will”

employment status;

• Equal employment opportunity statement and specific policies for each of

the key federal laws creating protected classes of employees;

• Policies and procedures regarding “time off” (i.e., lunch hour and other

breaks, holidays, personal days, vacation policy and pay, leaves (e.g.,

personal, family, bereavement, educational, military service and

reemployment rights), jury duty and election time off)

• Policies and procedures regarding “job-related issues” (i.e., performance

evaluations, discipline and termination and other general employment

practices);

• Rules and standards of workplace conduct (e.g., attendance and

punctuality, protection of confidential information, visitor rules and access

to premises, personal appearance and dress, smoking, gifts and gratuities,

insubordination, harassment and substance abuse);

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Contents (Part II)

• Policies and procedures regarding compensation (i.e., pay computation,

payday dates, pay deductions, bonuses, overtime pay, meal allowances,

direct deposit and check cashing) and benefits (e.g., insurance, pension

and tuition reimbursement benefits, including eligibility requirements);

• Policies and procedures regarding safety and health (i.e., reporting

accidents, rules concerning accidents and physical examinations);

• Policies regarding use of technology (i.e., Internet use and e-

communications);

• Special requirements may apply to certain types of companies, such as

“whistleblower” and business ethics policies for public companies;

• “Welcome message”, “first-day checklist”, communications tools and

procedures; and

• Disclaimers and acknowledgements.

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Standard Employment Policies

• Probationary period

• Hours of work and

overtime

• Wage and performance

reviews

• Family and medical

leave

• Leaves of absence

• Absence reporting

requirements

• Personnel records

• Workplace safety

• Workplace conduct

• Progressive discipline

• At-will employment and

termination events

• Benefits policies and

procedures

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Practical Handbook Drafting Considerations

• Have a clear understanding of the recipients of the employee.

• The language of the handbook should be clear, concise, easy to understand and

devoid of unnecessary legalese.

• Use positive lead-in language, even when talking about difficult topics such as

dismissal; however, be careful not to imply permanent employment.

• Language in the handbook should be personalized, which means writing in the first

personal and/or using possessive pronouns whenever possible.

• The employer should not include promises to employees that it cannot keep or

policies that the employer does not intend to enforce and apply uniformly and

consistently with all employees.

• Eliminate language that might create an inference of “permanent” or “lifetime”

employment.

• Make sure handbook will serve as a practical working document that meets the

specific needs of the company, answers all the questions that employees generally

ask and lays out in straightforward fashion all of the fundamental information that

employees need to know about their relationship with the company.

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Handbook Preparation Process (Part I)

• Appoint a project coordinator and a relatively small drafting committee that

includes the top HR executive, one executive from each of the key

operational functional groups within the company, the controller for tax

and legal questions, and a representative company’s PR department.

• The committee meets to discuss and reach agreement on the contents of

the handbook including the specific policies that will be included.

• The project coordinator (or the coordinator’s designees) drafts the policy

statements agreed to by the committee.

• The policy drafts are distributed to each committee member for review

and comment.

• Committee members return the policy drafts to the project coordinator,

who reviews the members’ comments and modifies the drafts.

• The second drafts of the policy statements, accompanied by a summary

of previous comments, are distributed for further review.

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Handbook Preparation Process (Part II)

• After second drafts are returned to the project coordinator, the coordinator

proceeds in the same way to prepare and review third drafts.

• The committee submits the revised draft to in-house or outside counsel to

ensure that the policies comport with applicable law and, if necessary, to

the company’s public relations department or an outside professional

writer to ensure that the policies are easily understood.

• The revised draft should also be circulated to a select group of first-line

supervisors for input on how it is likely to be received by employees and

how comfortable the supervisors feel about their role in administering the

policies in the handbook on a day-to-day basis.

• The project coordinator prepares a final draft of the policies to submit to

the committee members and senior executives with approval authority.

• Upon receiving approval, the project coordinator prepares the policy

statements in final form for inclusion in the employee handbook.

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Equal Opportunity Policies

• Equal employment opportunity

• Employees with disabilities

• Harassment

• Reporting harassment or discrimination

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Pay and Benefits Policies

• Timekeeping and overtime

• Changes in pay

• Employee benefit plans

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Standards of Conduct

• Attendance and punctuality

• Personal appearance

• Drug- and smoke-free workplace

• Substance abuse

• Gifts, conflicts of interest and other ethical matters

• Protection of confidential information

• Solicitations and distribution of literature

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Time Off and Leave Policies

• Holidays

• Vacations

• Paid sick leave

• Medical leave

• Maternity leave

• Other leaves

• Procedures relating to

leaves

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“On the Job” Policies

• Performance evaluations

• Corrective actions

• Severance pay

• Personnel records

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Safety and Health Policies

• Medical examinations

• Accidents

• Weapons

• Workplace violence

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Internet Use and Social Networking Policies

• Internet use and social networking policies should address:

– Compliance with intellectual property laws

– Scope of authorized use of company Internet, e-mail and social

networking tools

– Prohibition of specific types of Internet use and content

– Compliance with procedures established for privileged

communications and litigation

– Installation of unauthorized software, including encryption

software

– Employee privacy and protections against unauthorized access

– Format and content of e-communications

– Retention of e-communications

– Behavior as social networking participant

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Additional Resources and Practice Tools

• Sources for Additional Information

– Business Transactions Solutions Chs 172 & 174

– Legal Compliance Checkups: Business Clients Ch 10

• Practice Tools

– Employment Law Handbooks (BTS §§ 174:1 et seq.)

– Social Media Policies and Related Materials (BTS §§

174:1 et seq.)

– Employment-Related Policies (LCC:BC App 10-1 et seq.)

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